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region to barrenness and poverty. An old description of the manor of 

 Pfifeubarg- states that a squirrel could travel for three miles along the 

 Istrian coast upon the branches of trees ; a few bushes now occupy the 

 site of that luxuriant vegetation. The former fertile landscape is now 

 replaced with naked cliffs and bare rocks, upon which an intense sun- 

 shine permits no springing plants. The numerous rivulets, dry for most 

 of the year, become, during the remainder, roaring torrent*, carrying the 

 soil into the sea. 



The denudation of these forest areas has been still more active in 

 modern times. The plain of Volusca was stripped a hundred and fifty 

 years ago. The oak ship-timber was carried to Fiume mostly for expor- 

 tation to Italy. The red beeches are still numerous on the mountains. 

 The woods in Castelnuovo were destroyed during the current century. 

 The red beeches being only valuable as fuel, were too remote from Trieste 

 to be disturbed till all nearer supplies had been exhausted. At the close 

 of the last century these woods furnished hiding-places for the bandit 

 population, but the French invasion broke up their predatory habits, and 

 they turned their attention to the destruction of their former forest 

 covert, which is now nearly exhausted. The once dreaded dark beech 

 wood of Tschitchen has disappeared, leaving but a few stakes on a barren, 

 stony coast. But little is grown in the way of crops. The people have 

 a great aversion to farm-labor, preferring a nomadic life, with a preca- 

 rious support from teaming, charcoal-burning, &c. The women perform 

 the small amount of farm-labor, and are in the degraded condition char- 

 acteristic of semi-nomad populations. 



The abrogation, in 1824, of restrictions upon the exi')ort of ship-timber, 

 imposed for the benefit of the royal navy, caused the removal of the large 

 trees from the coast regions by English and French merchants. In 

 Istria, and in the Gortzer, and Trieste-Karst but little snow now falls, and 

 great Hocks of sheep and goats sweep all the young growing trees, except 

 the cedars, and these are taken for fuel. 



A special difficulty in re-afforesting the Karst region is found in the 

 singular dryness of the soil. The underlying masses of chalk are split, 

 seamed, and honeycombed with numerous cavities, through which the 

 rain-water from the surface is absorbed. In some small tracts the num- 

 mulitjc sandstone decomposes rapidly, leaving a surface stratum much 

 more retentive of moisture than the chalk-beds. The leading character 

 of surface-soil, however, is a red ochreous loam mingled with fragments 

 of limestone, which dries out very rapidly. On the mountains and higher 

 summer pastures may be found a dark-brown soil, largely composed of 

 humus, the remains of ancient forest- growth, from which, however, the 

 soluble mineral constituents have been removed. Exposure to sun and 

 rain, since the destruction of the forests, has deprived this humus soil 

 of its fertility, and crops can be raised from it only by copious mixture 

 with the underlying ferruginous clay. Without this preparation neither 

 grass-seed nor tree-seed will grow otf it. 



The lack of moisture cannot, here, be compensated by irrigation. 

 The only river — the Eecca — in passing the Karst region disappears 

 in a subterranean channel at St. Cauzain, and re-appears at Duino, 

 on the coast, as the Timavo. In long droughts water for domestic 

 use is often transported several miles. The droughts usually begin in 

 April and last till September, with the exception of occasional showers 

 in August. Then the moist sirocco alternates with the desiccating bora, 

 with intervening spells of agreeable weather. The spring bora, after 

 damaging the fruit-bloom, frequently absorbs the entire moisture left by 

 the winter. For forest-aulture it is important that operations should 



